The Dangers Of IKEA
by Lifeofroos
Summary: The new Hungergames are starting, and Hallie is Districht 8's female tribute this year. She is expecting to go into a regular arena, but how will she reacts when she finds out the gamemakers decided they wanted to try something new: A Hungergames arena that resembles a giant IKEA?
1. Chapter 1

I step into the tube that should launch me into the arena. I take a deep breath, just as the tube starts to move upwards. After some time, the tube stops, yet I am still standing inside a building. I look around, surprised. 'Where is the arena?' I mutter to myself.

'Please get out of the tube,' a voice-over demands. I step out of the tube. I look at my feet, and would you look at that, I am actually standing on a starting platform. The counter hanging above the copernica starts counting down. I take a swift look around. Next to me stand 23 other dazed Candidates. For a few seconds, I make eye contact with Yarrel. Seemingly, he also doesn't understand what is going on. I turn my gaze back to the copernica. I decide that I am not going to run towards it - there is a great chance that the professionals will kill me immediately if I try. Close nearby lays a small backpack, and I decide that I need to have it.

'Three, two, one, go!' The voice-over screams. I sprint towards the backpack, en swipe it away. Another girl (Tsara I believe) tries to grab it, but she reaches to high - finally my small posture does something good. I begin to run, away from the copernica. Behind it is what looks like a huge maze. I slow down, while I try to decide which of the three lanes I should go inside. There is also a huge flight of stairs. In one lane, there are… bedrooms? Right next to it are kitchens, and the third lane has bathrooms. An arrow zooms past my head. I do not dawdle any longer, but sprint to the kitchens. A knife almost hits my head, but I duck down and it sticks in the door of a refrigerator. I keep running, until I hear nothing except for my own footsteps and panting.

I keep running for a few more minutes, before I start to slow down. When I am truly really one-hundred percent sure that I am alone, I stop running and lean against a kitchen counter. I let my backpack slide of my shoulder, and unzip it to see what is inside. While I do so, the lamps above my head flicker three times. I swallow. That definitely means something. I decide not to bother with it, at least not for now. Still, I quickly glance around. There is nothing. I look inside the backpack. I hold it so that the light falls into it. I see a pack of dried fruit, a roll of cookies, an empty water bottle and a blanket. It is a lot for a small backpack, but I do not complain. While I open the water bottle to check if there is really nothing in it, I hear seven cannon shots. Seven deaths already. I shiver a little; it feels very real. I put everything back into the backpack. I look around for a small while. I do not remember where I come from, and there are kitchens everywhere. It is pretty creepy, actually. After a small round of ine-mine-mo I decide to go left. As I walk further, I notice that every single style of kitchen is standing here - from the poor, wooden kitchens from district twelve, to the rich, marble kitchens that the people in the Capitol own (Not use. They just own it). I let my hand slide over a marble kitchen island. Hm. It feels more like plastic. I take another deep breath. Alright, Hallie, what do we know? A huge amount of kitchens, similar huge amounts of bedrooms and washrooms, flight of stairs with who-knows-what. small backpack, blinking lights. As I think it, they flicker three times again, and I feel goosebumps. It really is frightening. A notebook to write it all down would be useful, I think.

I have been walking around for what feels like hours, and my throat feels dry. I also haven't found any weapons yet. The lights have flickered again, this time not three, but one time. That only makes me surer that it means something. One time, I thought I heard something. I ran away as quick as possible. I did not think I was ready for confrontation yet, not having weapons and the like. I open the water bottle again, checking for the sixth time if there really isn't any water in it. Not a single drop. I look around. The world looks different when you are thirsty. I debate whether I should ask my mentor for water, when my eyes fall onto a kitchen with a tub. I do not think there is actually water in it, but it doesn't hurt to try (Scrap that, this is the Hunger games, by all means it does hurt to try). I walk over to it, and turn it on. I can't help it; I start cheering. There comes water out of the tub! I quickly put my bottle under it. That seemed to have been a good idea, because when the bottle is filled for three quarters, the water stops. I hear the groaning of the waterworks under my feet. It sounds like the water is migrating away to another part of the arena. I didn't really have much of a plan, because I did not think we would be inside a building, but following the water does not mean like a bad idea. I take a few big sips of water. I never knew how good it feels to drink water when you are thirsty. We do not have a lot of water shortages in district 8. Before I go to the left, where the water has went, my gaze falls onto a kitchen with a glinstering knife block. I choose the three sharpest knives. I slide one into the phone-pocket of my backpack. I wrap the rest into my blanket, and slide it into the backpack. After that, I really depart to follow the water.

After a small while, the lights go off, and they do not go on again. I get startled and grab my knife, but I relax when I hear the anthem. I look up, but I do not see a projection with the faces and names of the fallen. I gasp when my hand illuminates, and Yarrells face appears. Oh. They project the faces of the fallen on our arms in the absence of a sky, it seems. I make a sign of peace for Yarrel - not that I am very religious, but I saw him praying a few times in the training centre. If there is a god, I hope that Yarrel is safely in his domain.

I do not feel safe, but I do need to rest. I spread out my blanket. I decide to lay on one side, and wrap the other side around my body. The hard floor is net very nice to lay on. Before I lay down, I try one of the tubs. I drink straight from the tub this time, and there are only a few sips before it migrates again, so it is alright. I sit down on my blanket, but decide to move it to behind a kitchen island, so that I am less visible. I eat two cookies and a few pieces of dried fruit. The nerves are still bouncing in my body, so I am not extremely hungry, and I need to ration my food - I have not found anything edible in this kitchen area yet, so it is completely possible that all the food is by the copernica. I wrap the blanket around my body. I fall surprisingly fast into a rocky sleep.

Survive, Hallie, my sister says. She pushes me through the hallways of a dark house. It is the only thing she has said since she has been doing it. I hear laughter sometimes, and the candles flicker twice. I try to turn around. Marine, where are we going?

Survive, Hallie. I try to stop her by tugging on her arm, but it falls of. With a scream, I wake up. I breath heavily. Slowly, I breath in through my mouth and nose. My own heart rate slows down and my heavy breathing goes quieter, but I still hear something. Something else is breathing. I peak from behind the kitchen counter, and I see a trail of slime on the floor. I try to make as little noise as possible. I get my knife from out of backpack, and clutch it against my chest. All of a sudden, I hear growling and moaning. I let out a little yelp. I am to afraid to breath. Whatever is over there, it isn't human. I hear something coming towards me. It sounds like hooves. It wanders around the kitchens, and it comes closer. I hear it growl again, when it is right over the kitchen isle I am behind. I stay as small as I possibly can. It makes its way around the counter, slowly, as if it is afraid to bump into something. The lights flicker, twice this time - The monster lets out a blood-curdling scream, and runs away. I stay in my crouching position for the rest of the evening.

**Hey peeps! This is my first ever story for the Hungergames, and I hope you liked it. The story might feel a little weird - I had to translate it from my Original Dutch version. **


	2. Chapter 2

It is dead silent when I wake up the next day. There was not a trail of whatever walked past me last night. No scratches on the fridge. No slime dripping from the walls. The smell was gone as well, luckily. I felt pressure on my stomach - shoot. Maybe I should have gone to the bathrooms. My cheeks turn red while I empty my bladder anyway. I take two cookies for breakfast. I decide to look if there is water in the nearest tub. It fills the rest of my bottle before it stops. The creaking of the water pipes tell me that the water migrates further to the left, so that is the way I decide to go.

After about half an hour, I suddenly see a bed standing in between the kitchens. Oh. Apparently, you can get to the other regions. I would rather not walk into the bedroom-section. It seems like there is even less stuff over there. Yet, I am curious, so I decide to walk a little further. There are less and less kitchens the further I go. More and More beds appear in the landscape, in every style you can imagine. They feel very attractive, for some reason. In trance, I walk over to a large, pink, bed. It looks like a marriage bed. It even smells like roses, which is very nice. The scent of the rest of the arena is stale. Carefully, I stroke the bedsheets. The bed seems to tell me: Come, take some rest, you deserve it. A voice in the back of my head tells me I need to run away, but I do not listen. I carefully push the blankets away. I put my left leg on the bed. My feet hits something. I push the blanket further away - and scream at the top of my lungs.

There lies a body. Inside the bed. Not just a body, but a dead body. The enchantment is immediately broken. I immediately turn around, and sprint back to the kitchen-region. Murdering beds. I wonder if it can get crazier (it probably will). I start to walk slower when I see more kitchens appearing. I feel dizzy and nauseous. I falter to the nearest sink, and throw up all of the water and cookies I ate this morning. I open the tub. There is a little water, with which I clean my face and drink a few sips. I slowly walk away from the sink, to a kitchen that looks like it would be expensive. I sink down on my knees and start crying. It feels so real now. I am really in the Hunger Games, were children get murdered for the amusement of the capitol. I stop crying when the lamps flicker again. They flicker once, but I am not going to stay behind while that thing could be anywhere. I am not in my own region yet. While I get up and ready my knife, just in case, in see something hanging on the wall.

It is a small, plastic container hanging from the wall, with paper and pencils. Ooh. Handy. I grab a handful of paper. I grab a small pencil, when I notice that they look familiar. I have seen a pencil like this before. One of the richer kids at my school, Leia, once showed me a few. They came from a furniture store. IKEA, is written on the side.

I chuckle, which feels weird considering how horrible everything is. A Hunger Games arena in a furniture shop. Who thinks of these things? (Honestly, I do not know. I have not paid attention to who the game maker is this year. I spend more time trying to get our mentor to like me). I grab three more pencils. There are also a few folded papers. I want to look at it. There is a monster trying to get you, the voice in the back of my head whispers. Yeah, but I want to know what this is, I answer.

Gold mine. It is a map of the whole arena, with the names of every single bed, kitchen and bathroom. The copernica is by the restaurant, and not in the middle, like it usually is. Most of the food will be there as well. There is also a stockroom, which looks like it is an even bigger mess than the kitchens. I put everything in my backpack. I get a few maps - you never know. I take another cookies, before I run.

I run until the lights flicker again, which I take to be the sign that the monster is gone. I take the map out of my backpack. I believe I am currently standing by a… however you say that. IKEA words have always amazed me. If I really am standing there, I should go to the right, than forwards, that should lead me to the copernica. I could see if there was something more filling than cookies and water over there.

I take a step to the right. I immediately jump back - there is someone there. I peak around the corner. It is a female tribute. She does not look like she is very prepared. I clench my fist around my knife. I could get her. Right now. Yet, my hands start trembling when I think about it. I wonder if I would be able to murder someone. Falancia probably does not like that.

The girl turns around - it is Tsara. District eleven. I can see her ribs through her white t-shirt. I lift my knife. I could do it. I could totally do it right now. I jump from behind the fridge. I sprint over to her. I grab her arm, and lift my knife high above my head.

**Heya! This chapter is a little short. I'll write more the next time. **


	3. Chapter 3

Lara's mouth fell open when she saw the arena her sister got dropped in. It was already a day into the Hunger games, yet she had only started watching it right now - as a rich family, you had some privileges, like not being forced to watch the Hunger games. She ran to the kitchen. 'Dad! Dad! Come look! The arena is not outside!' Her dad was blankly staring at the table. Lara tugged on his sleeve. 'Dad! Dad?' Her father looked over. He blankly stared at his daughter.

'...Oh, hello Lara. What were you saying?'

'The arena is not outside. Have they ever done that before, dad?' Her father slowly shook his head. He pulled Lara into his arms. 'She is there, Lara. She is really gone.' Lara opened her mouth for a second, debating whether or not she had to repeat her question. Her father had not listened to her since Hallie had left for the capitol. Lara decided that she would not bother her father with the comment again. 'Yes, but she will win, dad,' she whispered. Her father did not answer. Lara felt how a tear that was not hers ran down her neck.

Lara heard a soft knock on the door. She kissed her father on his forehead and walked out of the kitchen. While she was walking through the front hall, her eyes fell onto a picture on the hearth. It was a picture with all five of them: Hallie, Juliet, Lara, both of their parents. She did not have a lot of memories from Juliet, because she had been just four when she was reaped. She did remember her mother. Her soft, sweet mother, who should not have died.

She opened the door. 'Oh, hello, Pilot.' She swallowed. 'I… Sorry about Yarrel. I heard it... yesterday.' (Which was not a lie. The Hunger games was gossiped about in school). Her neighbour opened his mouth and muttered something, before bursting into tears. 'I-I-I-I-I-I-IlovedYarrelsomuch!' He screamed. Lara softly took his hand.

'Come. Just cry, Pilot.' She lead him inside. She softly pushed him down on the couch, where he curled up, still blaring like a siren. Lara walked back into the kitchen. She opened a small cabinet, where a tiny bit of cocoa powder was laying. She had been keeping it for an occasion where somebody needed help. She figured now was the time - if Hallie died, she would probably not be able to stomach it anyway.

Her dad turned his head towards the door, while his daughter was making chocolate milk. 'Who's there?'

'Pilot. Yarrels' brother.'

'Who's Yarrel?'

'The male tribute. He… he died by the copernica.' Her dad turned to her. For the first time in days, he looked Lara in the eyes. She did not like it. Her father's' eyes were full of sadness and fear. 'Lara, is she dead? Did you not tell me?' Lara shook her head.

'She's alive, dad. She is well-equipped, too, from what I just saw. I… I think she has a higher chance than… Juliet.'

Her father shivered, but he seemed to be slightly more at ease. 'Lara?'

'Yes?'

'Please make me a cup, too.'

Lara walked into the living room with three cups of hot chocolate. She stopped by the door. Pilot was crying in her father's arms. 'I-I miss him al-already.' Her father slowly nodded.

'I know what you mean, kid.' Her father's eyes wandered around the room. He made eye contact with his daughter. He smiled at her. Lara set the cups of cocoa down on the coffee table. The TV was still on - now it was showing a tribute fighting a flesh-eating potted plant.

In the call center of IKEA, the phones were ringing almost all day long. Right now, tens and tens of inhabitants of the capitol wanted to order a pink marriage bed - like the one from the scene with Hallie from district 8, just a few minutes ago! Every single time a tribute did something noteworthy with a piece of furniture, the entire capitol suddenly decided that they needed that piece of furniture - something that was only boosted by the actual advertisement that played directly after every climax. The CEO of IKEA, a capitol inhabitant himself, rubbed in his hands - this was the perfect advertising stunt. His mobile phone rang. He picked up. 'Well, if it isn't my good old chap Kolina Beman!' The CEO heard the gamemaker laugh on the other side.

'Well, I can't complain either, Lopez. I have been showered with praise. This afternoon, I have an interview with Caesar. They all want to know what my grand plan for next year is going to be. Already!' The CEO laughed loudly.

Good luck, friend. Now, If you will excuse me, I have to prepare for my own interview.

Falancia Pearl took a sip of water, while she was watching the interview with Lopez Garner. She would rather watch the tribute fight the potted plant. She despised the CEO of IKEA almost as much as she despised president Snow and the Hunger games. The first tribute of her district was already dead - now, she had to focus on Hallie. She thought of Hallies father and sister, way back in district 8. She had seen Imun cry when his daughter was reaped. For the second time. Falancia had also been a mentor to Juliet, Hallie's older sister. She had not known their mother, Shola, but everyone knew how she died. She hardened her grip on the glass. She felt determined to let Hallie win. So Imun got at least one daughter back. So that Lara would still have a sister. Yet, Hallie had not needed much help yet. She had hidden from the monster, found food, ran away from the attractive bed before it consumed her. Falancia felt a little smile growing on her face - maybe, just maybe, district 8 had a chance this year.

In district 8, in the capitol, in the room of the mentors and everywhere else in Panem, people were glued to the screen - whether they wanted or not. The interview with the game maker was over. Now, they saw Hallie standing behind a fridge (an advertisement for it popped up in the corner). Another girl was striding around, like a rabbit in clear view of an eagle. Whole Panem held their breath, as Hallie ran towards Tsara. The tribute from district 8 grabbed Tsara's colar. She held her knife high in the air, ready to strike.


	4. Chapter 4

I hold Tsara by her collar. I hold my knife high above my head. I slowly let it go down. Yet, while I do that, I look into Tsaras eyes. My knife stops. She looks so scared and alone. Do it, Hallie, says the voice in my head. That voice is often right. Yet, I have no been listening to that voice this whole Hunger games long - I might as well do it again. I lower my knife. Tsara looks confused. What do you have? I ask. She shakes her head.

Nothing, I only have soap! I, eh…

Where you seeking water? She nods. I let go of her collar. She immediately tries to run away, but I get a hold of her wrist. It is almost pitiful, how she tries to wiggle herself out of my grasp. With one hand, I rummage through my bags. I get my bottle out and hold it in front of her.

She looks at the bottle for a few seconds. She looks like she cannot believe it. She pulls it out of my hands and takes a few gluttonous sips. When she takes the bottle away from her lips, I pull it back. Careful! I do not have unlimited water. She looks at me with big eyes. For a second, I think that this might be a trap to manipulate me - until I remember that she has exactly nothing. I look around, to see if there is a potential teammate lurking behind a kitchen isle. There is no-one. I still clench my fist around the knife.

Tsara squeaks. I roll my eyes. I just gave you some of my valuable water. Why would I kill you? That seems to calm her down a bit. Meanwhile, I realise that I am stuck with her now. I do not want to waste that water and killing her after I have made peace will not make me popular with the sponsors. I sigh and pat her on the back. I'll explain to you what I already know.

I show her the maps, while I tell her about the flickering lights and the monsters. Tsara looks at the map. Her face gets darker. This does not display the entire arena, I gave her a weird look. What do you mean? There is the storage room, the three sections and the restaurant with the copernica. Tsara shakes her head.

I know that there is more. I hung around by a set of stairs. Not the one that leads to the storage room, but another one. I heard mechanical growling downstairs, so I was too afraid to go in.

Mechanical growling?

That is how we call it in district three. On the other side was a glass door, with one of those kiddie places. I did not dare to go in there as well.

I bite my lip. It was stupid to think that the entire arena was just there, on this map. Why don't we go back to that corner? There is nothing over here, except for kitchens, bathrooms and beds that want to kill you. I don't know, maybe there is something we can use down those stairs. Tsara looks at me like a little rabbit at headlights.

What? But… I pat her back.

We are together now. Do you want a biscuit?

When I see Tsara stuffing three biscuits into her mouth, I realise that my stomach had been growling. Cookies and fruit are not enough to win a Hunger games on. We need meat, or bread at least. Maybe I should ask Falacenia for those, now that the prices are still relatively low. I stumble around the kitchens, trying to find water, while thinking about it.

Is the male tribute of your district still alive? Tsara nods.

Yes. He is tall, with a lot of muscles, a light skin and blond hair. He has a scar on his cheek. He got one from one of those bloodseeker wasp things. For a moment, I look around. It is really something for a gamemaker to hang a bloodseeker nest in a kitchen cabinets, so that they are angry enough when you walk past. He is strong, Tsara continues, Our mentor looks after him only. I nod slowly.

Mine, Yarrel, is dead.

Oh. That is terrible.

Yeah. In silence, we start to make our way back to the copernica, helped by the map.

My stomach growls again. We need sustenance. Something filling. Otherwise, we will not make it, I declare. Maybe I should ask my mentor… I stop talking, as a silver parachute lands in front of me.

I can remember from previous Hunger games that there are usually silver capsules hanging from the parachutes. Yet, this time there is a carton box attached to the parachute. A small one, with the logo from IKEA on it, and something in a language that I do not understand. I grab it from the floor. I cut through the tape with my knife. In it are three plastic boxes (How do they call them again? Tupperware?). I grab the largest one. Meat. Fresh meat. The smell alone makes me lightheaded. Tsara looks in a smaller box - it has actual, fresh vegetables. I shake my head, trying to ground myself. Tsara, I think we should eat all of it now. It will only go bad if we do not. She nods.

I agree. We stuff the food into our mouths like a pair of hungry dogs, until there is not a single crumb left.

From who do you think the food came? I ask, as we walk further.

Probably from your mentor. As I said, mine does not really care about me. I thought that too, which is why I immediately teared that box open. Yet, now I am not so sure. Falencia is way too smart to give away donations on things we do not need. Which means that we are either going to be in a lot of trouble really soon, or it comes from Tsaras mentor. I hope that it is the first one.

We start to get closer to the copernica and Tsaras stairs. We peak from around the last kitchen. Slowly, we pad past the first stairs and the collection of murder beds, closer to Kid paradise. Next to that lay Tsaras stairs. I did not tell her why I wanted to go downstairs, because it is really stupid to be honest. You see, in every IKEA, there is a parking lot. If Tsara heard mechanical growling downstairs, it is possible that there are cars there, but maybe also those weird shopping carts. Tsara told me she is from district three. If Falencia is half as smart as I think she is, she will send us something mechanical - maybe she can even get District threes mentor to tell her what Tsara can do. I also saw an elevator. If we can get one of those shopping carts to move around really fast, we can tackle people with it and get less tired. Yes, I know it is a really far stretch, but at least it gives me a goal.

As we sneak past kiddie land, suddenly a knife flies past my ear. Tsara screams. I get my knife out. A small group comes rushing towards us. I believe they are Sucy and Harold (Both from district two), and ruby, from district one.

I do not think. I pull the door open and push Tsara inside. Sucy is the closest nearby. As I swing the door shut and lock it, she gets hit in the face with it. She falls over. I take a few steps further into kiddie land (Smaland, that was its name). My gaze is still on the door. I have front view as Ruby and Harold kneel next to Sucy, looking shocked. Harold sticks his hand out and lays it on Sucys wrist. Oh shoot. Oh… no? Yes? Harold let's go of her wrist. He and Ruby get up. I get one more death glare, before they march back to the copernica.


	5. Chapter 5

I hear Tsara yelp. After that a cannon. Sucy's body is pulled up into the sky by a delivery drone - It is only slightly more terrifying than I can imagine a hovercraft to be. I look around. Tsara is sitting in the corner of Smaland, whimpering and shaking. I do not feel very good either. I make the sign of the holy goddess for Sucy - no idea if she is religious. No idea if I do it for her, or to make myself feel better.

I feel a hand on my shoulder. 'Calm, Tsara,' I whisper.

'UHHH...' I hear, very much not behind me. It sounds like a half-scream. The hand starts to squish my shoulder. Not in a nice, massaging-way, but in painful way. I try to lift my hand that is still holding the knife, but another hand grabs that one. The hand squeezes in mine so hard that I scream. The held of the knife digs into my hand. I try to pull it out with my other hand. The hand on my shoulder starts to creep to my neck. Oh no. You really do not need to be a genius to realise what is going to happen. 'Tsara!' I cough. No answer. I scream, and open my hand. The thing is too focused on my neck to still push hard on my hand. The knife almost falls, but I am able to catch it. While the hand is on my neck and starts to push hard, I stab it right in the thigh. One of the hands let's go - the other one is still around my neck. I stab again and hit its arm this time. The hand slips away from my neck. I immediately run forward. Yet, the thing starts to scream. I stop running. My smart brain tells me that it is a trick, but the screaming sounds just like my little sister.

I remember that scream. She had been stung by a wasp. It was an ordinary wasp, but she cried so loudly that I thought she was stung by a bloodseeker. I slowly turn around. What I see is horrifying. It looks like a combination between a toddler and a plush doll. Its body is triangle-shaped. The arms and legs are too small and look like misshapen lumps of flesh. The head is way too big, with eyes that are not in proportion. Now that it is screaming its head off (Not literally, thank the goddess), it looks even more terrifying. But... it sounds like my sister. I take a small step closer. The thing tries to swipe me of the floor. The enchantment is broken, and I jump back.

I land on a rail. I wobble a little. On one side is a normal floor. On the other side is a ball pit filled with balls of lava (What was the gamemaker on when he made this!?). I land on the right side. The thing tries to get a hold of my neck again. Lucky for me, running around with such big lumps for limbs is not easy. It drops on its face. I take a sprint to the door, but I am stopped by a groan. Tsara! I turn around. The thing is still laying on the floor. I feel a shiver on the floor. Oh no, it is definitely going to scream again. My eyes fall on Tsara.

Now I am screaming. One of those Dolls is forcing her slowly towards the pit of lava. My doll starts screaming like Lara again, but for some reason decides that that is not good enough. Instead, it starts imitating Tsaras sounds. Oh for fricks sake. They might as well have made me insane before I got into this arena.

While my brain is still somewhat intact, I throw my knife at the thing. I run over to Tsara. I see that she herself is inching over to the lava - the monster is not really touching her. I grab her arm, and start pulling her to the door. The doll tries to grab her other arm, but has the same problem as the other one - too clumsy. It starts crying in a voice I do not recognise, but I feel that Tsara tries to stop me. It must be the cry of someone she knows. Tsara tries to walk by herself. Tears are streaming down her face. I pull her towards the door. I curse myself for locking it. I try to unlock the door, but my hands are shaking and the sweat makes the slippery.

My monster is still trying to sound like Tsara. My knife flew straight past it. I feel that I start to get confused - what if that it is the real Tsara? shoots through my brain. I clench my fist around Tsara's wrist.

Finally, I get the door open. Slowly, I start to walk through. At the same moment, my monster tries to get up. While we step through the door, it starts sprinting towards us at an alarmingly fast pace. I push Tsara away from Smaland and slam the door in the dolls face. I grab Tsara's hand again. Without thinking, I sprint through the hall and down the stairs. I almost do not hear the growling of motors downstairs.

When we reach the middle of the flight of stairs, I start walking slower. I am still panting. I hear Tsara softly weep. I am still holding her hand while we walk further downstairs. It gets darker and darker, but I assume that my eyes will get used to it.

Tsara keeps weeping. I slowly move my hand from her wrist to her shoulders. I wrap my other arm around her body. 'Shh. Calm down, Tsara.' She keeps sobbing.

'...I-I-I-I-It sound-ded like my-my-my...' I nod slowly.

'Like someone from home. I know.' She puts her head in my neck. We are still hobbeling down the stairs, in this very huggy way. 'I-I want to go home!'

'Me too, Tsara. Me too.'


	6. Chapter 6

We get down the stairs. Tsara has stopped crying. When she gets her head away from my neck, I flinch. Slowly, I pull the backpack from my back. 'Ow ow ow ow. That hurts.' I hand the backpack to Tsara. She looks concerned. 'We should take a look at your back. You might have wounds.' I shake my head. In the background, I hear the quote on quote Mechanical growling again. 'There is no time. Who knows what might be in here!?'

Tsara looks afraid. Yet, she slowly opens my backpack and gets out the bottle of water. 'Put your shirt off.'

'No!'

'You might have open wounds. We might die by the hands of other monsters, but if those wounds get infected, you'll die anyway. Come on.' I look at her. She still looks scared, but she has a weird determination on her face. I give in and take my shirt off. I am not wearing a bra - it seemed unhandy, before I went into the arena. Slowly, her fingers go over my back. 'Hmm. There is a small wound over here. For the rest, you just have bad bruises.' She lets some water drip on her fingers. They slide over my back.

After a few minutes, she takes a sip out of the bottle and gives it to me. 'The wound is clean. You can put your shirt back on. I do, before I also take a sip of water. I put the lid back on. I try to take the backpack back from Tsara, but she clutches it close to her chest. 'No. You have a wound and bruises. It will hurt to carry this.' I do not say anything back. She still has that determined look in her eyes. I shake my head. 'Yes, thanks. However, we have a goal. We should go for it.'

She gives me a weird look. 'Uh... What goal?' Oh right. I did not tell her my plan.

'Well, you know those weird carts that people use to load there boxes of furniture on?' She nods. 'Well, some of those are parked in the garage. I wanted to see if maybe we could find one and use it to move around quicker. She gives me a confused look. The determenated Tsara is gone, I see. 'How?'

'Because there is also a slope to take them upstairs. I saw it right over there. And I thought you might be able to do something mechanical to it, so that it can travel on it's own.' I close my mouth. I realised before how dumb this is, but now it truly seems delusional.

Yet, surprisingly, Tsara nods. 'Yeah, that could work. You know, people in district 3 go into the factories to make stuff when they are as young as seven.' I nod

'Yeah, we have to go into the weaving factories when we are seven too.' I swallow. 'Well, not me. My dad inherited a small fortune. It was enough to let me and sisters stay at home.' I feel slightly uneasy. Sometimes people in class fainted from the long hours they had to make. And then there was me, free from all that. It also meant that I had less skills in working with fabric, which meant that I had a problem right now, in the Hungergames, where I could have used information about that.

'Yet, we do not have anything electrical...' She looks at me. 'I, uh... I never asked for your name.'

'Hallie.'

We do not have anything electrical to work with, Hallie.' I nod.

'Yeah, I know. I wanted to see if I could get something from Falancia. I mean, it might not feel like it, but it is only the second day. The prices are still quite low.' Tsara looked like she wondered if Falencia would do that. To be honest, I did not know for sure as well.

At least, I did not know until a box fell in front of my feet. It was smaller than the one from before. I cheered and tore it open. Inside was a small, electrical… thingy. I had no idea what I was looking at, to be honest. Yet, Tsara's eyes light up. 'Oh! I have worked a lot with these things!' She squeels. I give it to her.

There is nothing else in the box. I drop it on the floor. 'So, eh... I think that means there is nothing else to do than to go to the roaring monsters, seeking for a cart. If we got this, they probably do exists,' Tsara says, while looking the mechanical knick knack. I shrug.

'Maybe. I believe Falencia is smart enough to only send us something that is probably expensive if we are actually going to use it. Yet, if Maron has send it to us...'

'He did not.' I raise my eyebrow.

'So you want to say that district 8 can pay for a full meal and that electrical thing? Besides, how would Falencia know that that is the type of electrical object that you work a lot with without at least talking to Maron? Which would require him to know that, which means...'

'Yeah, you might be right,' Tsara cuts me off. She does not sound like she believe it. I sigh.

'Do you want another cookie?' I ask. She nods. I give her one and take one myself. She tucks the electrical thing softly in the backpack, before she slips it over her shoulders. In silence, we walk further, to the roaring sounds. I put an arm around Tsara's shoulder. She puts her arm around my waist. Still in silence, we walk further.

**Heyo! Sorry for the short chapter. I'll upload more in the next one. **


	7. Chapter 7

It is almost completely dark. I hold on tightly to Tsara. I wonder if she can even put the electrical whatever on the carts with no lights. The longer we walk around, the harder the mechanical noise becomes. 'What kind of mutants makes that kind of noise?' Tsara wimpers. She sounds scared. I hug her even tighter.

'They sound like cars. Maybe they have made them sentient.' She looks up at me.

'Sentient? But cars move by themselves, don't they?' I give her a weird look.

'No? People drive them themselves. My dad had a car,' I answer. Tsara shakes her head.

'Yeah, you have to steer the cheap ones yourselves, but the people in the capitol all ride in self-driving cars.' I go silent.

'Wow. I did not know those existed. Well, I guess you learn something new everyda...' I cannot say anything else. A car rides past us with a staggering speed. We both scream and jump back. I let go of Tsara's shoulders in the proces. A second car comes up behind us and almost drives over our heels. Recklessly I run away. I do not care in which direction I run, I just want to get away from the sentient, self-driving monster cars.

When the sounds are further away, I 'look' around. 'Tsara?' I hear nothing. 'Tsara?!' Still nothing. Oh no. She is still there! I shiver and shake my head, but I run back. 'Tsara!' Out of nowhere, a car drives past me with a ridiculous speed. I jump back again. On my right, I hear a car coming towards me. I run left.

'TSARA!' My voice is drowned out by the sound of car motors. My heart feels like it is about to beat out of my chest. I try to look around, but it is still dark. My eyes do not get used to the darkness - they never do. 'TSARA?!' I yell again. I flail my arms around. I feel nothing.

Get back to the stairs, then, the voice in my head says. I can't. I am lost. There are no points of reference, is the answer of the rest of my brain. I am completely lost. Seek the walls! answers the voice. I start to run around, with my hands forward, trying to find a wall. Three cars speed past me. It is now that I notice that they have no headlights. I swear to the goddess that I'll never say that headlights are useless again, even though I never said that before.

After a few minutes of randomly flailing around and finding no walls (No kidding, IKEA parking lots are enormous), I hear something besides the roaring of cars. 'Tsara?' I whisper. No, it is music. Not just music, the national anthem. The report of that day lights up on my wrist. I stare at it. Two boys I do not know and Sucy appear. I sigh deeply. It might be weird, considering we are in the Hunger Games, but I feel really bad for her. I do not see it as a bad thing - it shows I have some compassion.

I feel a tap on my shoulder. I scream loudly and try to reach for my knife when I remember that Tsara has my backpack, all inclusive weapons. I throw my hands up, but those are stopped. 'Calm, Hallie, It's me! It's me!' I hear Tsara's voice yell.

'Tsara!' I pant. She grabs my shoulders.

'Shh. Calm down...' I take a deep breath.

'Alright, I am calm.' I hear her laugh. 'We need something to find each other,' I continue. I believe she nods.

'Yeah. I just found you by the light of the report, but that is not going to work again until tomorrow evening.'

'We do not have a lamp or matches and I think we have burned through the donation money, so we probably can only hold on to each other.' I hear roaring again. 'Right about now, actually,' I yell while we run away (I make sure to hold on to her hand now).

Our hands are sweaty and it is hard to hold on. Meanwhile, we are trying to find the stairs - we have almost forgotten about the plan with the carts. So what do we find? The carts, that right. We stare at them. Tsara throws the backpack on the floor. 'We might as well stick to the plan.' I look around. 'Tsara, I do not know if that is a good idea. Those cars can find us any time now and I do not want to be circled by roaring sentient cars and smashed against a wall in gory pieces.' She shrugs.

'I came here to do this. After what just happened, I want to finish it.' I stare at her, but she obviously does not see that. Which reminds me of something. 'Tsara, how are you going to know what you are doing in the dark? And don't you need tools?'

I believe she shakes her head. 'This type of electrical machine is very special. You do not need tools to use it.' She did not see it, but I raised my eyebrows. A mechanical device that does not need tools to be used? That is definitely expensive. How much do people have donated to us? Or have Falencia and Maron thrown all the money on one pile?

After a few minutes of hearing Tsara tinker with the electrical plate and wondering how she does that without light, I hear a soft roaring getting slowly louder and louder. 'Tsara, there is a car coming our way,' I say to her. I hear her snicker.

'Good. That is exactly what I ne... OW!' I smack her against her back and pull her up to her legs.

'Are you nuts? We need to leave!'

'The cars have lights.'

'That is insane. They only light up once they get really close. It'll kill us before you can use the headlights to do whatever you are doing.'

'Not if you put the other carts so that it gets stuck. I swear, we'll get away on time.'

'No. We're leaving.'

'You can leave, but I'll stay.' She means it. The little brat actually means it. I let go of her shirt. 'Alright, whatever then,' I scream. I can't help it - I am angry about it. Yet, I did not invest so much food, time, water and energy in Tsara to just let her go now. Frantically, I start to push carts in what feels like a circle around us (There is no way to check if it is an actual circle until the carts are in front of me and it is already possibly too late).

The roaring gets louder and louder. Out of nowhere, a pair of headlights appear. I jump back and almost knock over Tsara and her cart. I scream while the car rides into the small circle of cars. For a few seconds, the car goes slower. 'GET ON!' I hear behind me. I jump onto the cart. The cart zooms away right before the car speeds up again. With a mighty mechanical roar, it slams against the wall. The pieces of broken vehicle fly everywhere, while we softly zoom away.

'Stay close to the walls,' I whisper into Tsaras hair. She nods.

'I'll try.'


	8. Chapter 8

We reach the stairs. Now that I've had the chance to sit down, I realise how tired I am. I slowly get up from the cart. My arms and legs feel heavy. 'I saw the shaft upstairs. There must be an elevator somewhere around here,' I tell Tsara. I believe she nods. 'I'll ride the cart into the elevator if you find it.' I yawn.

'Yeah, If indeed.' I let my hand slide past the wall. After a little bit of feeling around, I do find an elevator shaft. 'Tsara?'

'Yes?'

'Do you think you can locate where I am based on my voice?'

'No.'

'You need to try it anyway.' I hear her grunt. Then the sound of the cart sliding forward. It nearly rides over my feet.

I feel around by the elevator doors. There is a button, and I decide that I will just push it. I hear the elevator zoom while it comes downstairs.

'Are we just going to step in, even if it might set us on fire?' Tsara asks me.

'Yes. If we don't use the cart we'll be slower than out opponents, and then we'll die anyway.' I hear her swallow.

'We're opponents as well.' Yes, I know Tsara, but I at least try my best to not think of that.

'Not yet.' The elevator dings and the doors glide open. I step inside and blink a few times. It is so much lighter inside the elevator than outside of it. Tsara maneuvers the cart into the elevator. I jump onto the cart - not because there is so little space, but because it feels safer.

I look at Tsara. She is covered in dirt and dust and looks like she nearly has enough energy to keep her eyes open. I look at my own hands, and conclude that I look just like that. I yawn. 'We need to sleep,' I mutter.

'We need to get upstairs first. Maybe the elevator will catch fire!' That is something I truly do not want to think about, the elevator flying on fire. I nod. 'Yeah, good plan.'

Miraculously, the elevator does not catch on fire. We hear a ding and the doors slide open. The room outside of the elevator is dark - I guess that the kitchen lights went out as well when it was 'Nighttime' in the arena. I yawned again. 'We're too close to the professional group,' I say. Tsara raises an eyebrow. 'I... don't know about that.'

'The elevator was close to their camping place.'

'Yes, but that over that is a shower.' I turn my head. Well have you ever, that really is a shower. I yawn for what feels like the millionth time, when suddenly the lights above our heads flicker. One time. Tsara lets out a peep.

'Calm. If that is a shower, we are in part 3, not in part 1.' She slowly nods.

'Yeah, Yeah, that's right.' I look around, and see that there is a closet set up in one of the bathrooms. 'We can sleep behind that. I'll do first guard.'

'We don't have a way to see the time. It won't be fair. We should both sleep.' I shake my head.

'We can't!' I say, while Tsara maneuvers her way to behind the shelf. As soon as we are there, she curls up and falls asleep. I look at her. I assume she is trained in sleeping whenever the possibility arises, which is a handy skill when you might be send to the factory any moment. I however, spoiled rich upper-class kid that I am, have not perfected that ability. I decide to at least try to stand guard - it's better than lying down and thinking about everything.

But of course, when you want to stay awake, you fall asleep. I wake up when the lights go on again. For some reason, I have laid my arm around Tsara's waist. My teammate is curled up against me. I softly tap her on her shoulder. 'Tsara, wake up, it's morning. The others might be coming out soon and the monster can appear in here any time.' She opens her eyes and slowly gets up. She shakes her head a little and blinks.

'Alright. Let's go.' getting up quickly. That is probably also something you learn when you work in the factories a lot. 'We can first eat something,' I mutter. My stomach growls. I need energy and I need it now. A part of me wishes that we did not eat all of the food yesterday, but the smarter part knows that the food would have gone bad anyway and I would have eaten it and then Tsara and I would have gotten food poisoning. I whip out the cookies and the water.

'There must be at least one tab that actually gives us water,' I state. We are surrounded by tabs and shower heads. If there is no water here, than I find that a very sick joke. Luckily, there is water in the most nearby tab. The water migrates. After a swift look at the map, I conclude that it's the way that leads back to the kitchens.

We have just started the cart when we hear the sound of a cannon going off - twice. On autopilot, I make the sign of the goddess again. Tsara stares at my hands. 'Why do you do that every time? I thought district 8 was one of the less religious districts.' I shrug.

'I knew my district mate was religious, so I did it for him. I decided to do it for Sucy too, and now it is more of a habit.' She nods.

'Okay.' The lights flicker again - twice this time. I sigh deeply.

'We need to get out of here before those lights flicker three times.' She nods. The cart speeds up, while we almost get lost in the jungle of bathrooms.

We reach the kitchen part before the lights flicker three times. Yet, they haven't flickered two times for a second time again as well, meaning that the monster still runs around there. Yeah, that would have been nice to think about while we drove straight into the kitchen section, with the monster still running around.


	9. Chapter 9

The little cart zooms into the kitchen section. 'Do you still remember a path?'

'To what? Wait, it doesn't mind. I do not know it anyway. We'll need to use our map.' Tsara shrugs.

'Have we tried the section with beds yet?'

'Yes. I almost got eaten by a bed before I met you. Not going back.'

I see her shiver. 'Yes, fine.'

Suddenly, we hear an ear-piercing scream from a few kitchens ahead. Tsara screams. I feel a shiver go up my spine. 'Tsara?'

She breathes heavily. 'Yeah?'

'Have the lights blinked twice after we saw the flicker before?' Her eyes grow wide. She looks even more afraid than before, if that's possible. 'No.' I bite my lip.

'Get out of here. Now.'

She does not need further encouragement. She pushes the electric device (which must be even more expensive than I thought it was of you can also use it in the place of a steering wheel and a brake) and we go ahead at full speed. Behind us, the screaming has stopped. We hear a cannon. Then someone running our way. A loud growling drowns those footsteps out pretty quickly. Someone - a boy, I suppose - screams. Tsara grabs my hand and starts to squish it.

'How fast is that monster?'

'I have no idea and I don't feel like finding out either. How quick does this thing go?'

'Twenty kilometres per hour at the maximum.' I click with my tongue. That's fast enough to outspeed fellow contestants, but it might be too slow for whatever that _thing _is. 'Keep going at maximum speed.'

'Uh... yeah.' I swallow.

'What?'

'Until the battery needs to reload.' I almost scream as well, if it wasn't for the fact that that might alarm the monster.

'Do we even have the chargers for that?'

'It charges itself. We do not need to do anything except let it rest a few hours. We need to keep the energy for when it is really necessary.' The monster growls again. I hear screams that make me feel sick from only a few hundred metres distance. 'Sounds like that is right about now,' I yell.

She apparently agrees, because the cart speeds up ever so slightly. The screams stop and we hear another cannon going off. I look up. Still no flickering lights. Yet, I don't hear growling, screeching and running either. 'Maybe it has stopped to...' I do not continue. I wanted to say 'eat,' but the idea alone makes my stomach turn. Tsara will probably start crying and stop the cart, which would not be beneficial. Randomly, I think of my family at home. Do they see this right now? Are they watching me? Will I be able to ever return? And if I do, how will I ever live a normal life after all the horrid things that happen in here?

Lara slowly took a sip of tea. She was sitting in front of the television, alone. Her father had gotten back to his spot in the kitchen. It was too much for him. But If Hallie died, she did not want the people in the capitol to know before she did. She saw her sisters zooming along in the cart, with her new friend Tsara. Lara did not completely understand why her sister had decided to form a team with her, but she did comprehend that it helped both girls. She wondered whether Tsara's parents were in front of the television now too, looking at their daughter. She wondered what they felt. Another cannon went off, marking the death of the second child. Lara shuddered.

Meanwhile, all the way in District 3, Tsara's mother, father and brothers were huddled together around the screen in the city hall, with about two hundred other people. They had no money for their own TV. This was therefore their only opportunity to keep track of the only daughter in the family. Tsara had four older brothers, who were miraculously all still alive. The youngest of them, Polar, was silently watching the screen and biting his nails. He was still of the age to go into the Hunger games - all the others were too old - and even though he knew it was not his fault, he felt guilty for his sister being in the arena. He should have been there. His little baby sister was too young to die by the hands of a monster, or a fellow tribute.

He did not know how to feel about Hallie. On one hand, she had not killed Tsara, but instead offered her food. On the other hand, she had put her into danger for up to three times. Polar did not like that. Someone, he did not know who, pushed a piece of bread into his hands. Mindlessly, he started to chew on it. It tasted hard. Harder than usual. Food in district three was bad. A tear rolled down his cheek.

My smart brain tells me to stop. Every contestant probably has had these thoughts, Hallie, it tells me. It does not help to keep you alive. I decide to squish Tsara's hand back instead. I see a tear making its way down her cheek, while a loud roaring comes from behind us. Apparently the monster finished its tribute-snack. I pray to the goddess that he is satisfied now (it is a miracle, how religious I became over the last few days). Yet, it does not work, either because I do not pray enough or because the goddess just doesn't excist. We hear the loud sound of hooves on the hard floor.

I can feel that Tsara tries her hardest to make the cart go faster than it physically can. The sound of hooves becomes louder and louder. The monster is catching up to us. I hear Tsara swallow. I turn my head around. I shouldn't have done that. I see a monster with the body of a human, the feet of a cow and the head of a bull. Besides feeling so afraid that I could pee my pants, I also feel something like... disappointment? I guess I had expected someone like our current gamemaker to come up with something more creative than a minotaur.

My fear makes Tsara try even harder. 'Tsara, don't use all of your energy. This thing can not go faster than twenty kilometres an hour - I think we're sure of that.' She squeezes my hand even harder. I don't complain. It feels like the only thing we can hold on to now. The minotaur comes closer and closer. I make the sign of the holy goddess twice more. I don't think I will be able to do it if Tsara and I are being seized by a monster.

When it is on only a few metres distance, I realise something. The monster not galloping at us, but past us, while roaring louder than ever. I bite my lip, thinking that it will probably pull a trick and grab our cart from the front. But no. It gallops past us, at a staggering speed. My mouth falls open from disbelief. For a few seconds, I am sure that the goddess exist. But then I see the smoke coming from the back of the minotaur. 'Tsara! It's on _fire!' _I screech. Tsara has noticed it, too. I feel her body shiver.

'No, no, no, no...' I hear her weep.

'Tsara, it is gone now,' I mutter while shaking my head. Then, Tsara confirms what I have unconsciously already realised:

'Hallie, the fire needs to come from somewhere. It was killing tributes just a few seconds ago, so...' completely against the smart voice in my head, I look around once again.

Flames. Flames are eating their way through the rows of kitchens. Smoke curls through the still standing closets. And it is everywhere except in front of us.


	10. Chapter 10

Why do they do it? I is not like the Hunger Games have been boring, right? Or did there happen so little while we were in the dark garage and during the night that they needed to shake up the audience a bit? Still, even if that is what happend, why fire? just... 'WHY!?' I yell. Tsara shugs.

'I have no idea, but I am afraid we'll run out of power soon.' I lay one hand on her shoulder. She is shaking. 'Hold in there, Tsara,' I whisper. I hold on to her waist. The fire is still in the distance, but I can see it eating its' way through the kitchens, to our kart. It seems to not travel very fast, but I would bet quite a bit of money that the gamemakers will speed up the process so that it will be on our tail in no time.

'This will be a short Hunger Games if they go on like this,' I hear Tsara whisper. Before I can answer, I hear a cannon. 'Yes, you're right.' I turn around again. Yup, the fire is closer to us, as expected. All of my limbs are aching, but I manage to open the backpack that is still on Tsara's back. 'Alright. I can make the cart slightly wet without water, but that does mean we do not have any water to drink and it doesn't mean that we ourselves are protected.' I believe Tsara shrugs. 'Whatever helps,' I hear her wimper. Slowly, I start to wet the cart a little.

The fire grows quicker and quicker. The smoke reaches us before the fire does. After a few seconds, it gets into my eyes and chokes me up. I hear Tsara cough. I look at the bottle. There is a very small bit of water left. I tear ribbons from my slime, blood and dirt covered T-shirt and sprinkle some water onto it. I push one into Tsara's hand. 'He...re...ugh...put it... grl... in front of... ya mouf...' I cough to much to be completely understandable, but I think she gets it.

I put my own wet rag in front of my mouth. It helps a little with breathing, but it doesn't help my slowly deteriorating eyesight. I shiver, even though it is getting hotter and hotter. For a few seconds, it is silent. I hear Tsara gasp and swallow. In the seconds after that, our kart starts to go slower.

Kolina garner started at the screen in the control centre. A few minutes before, one child had perished in the fire. Right now, both the girls from district 8 and 3 and two thirteen-year-olds from district 5 and 7 where at risk of being devoured by the fire. He tapped his cheek. 'Hm. After one of the couples perishes, let the other one go.' One of his colleagues nodded slowly.

'I believe that is going to be the girls from 3 and 8, sir,' he answered. Kolina bit his nail, a dirty habit that he couldn't shake off. 'Maybe. But there cart is losing speed - don't you see?'

'I don't know if Lopez is going to be happy if they die. They have been advertising the most products, after the girl from ten that died during the minotaur attack,' the colleague mentioned. Kolina shrugged. 'He can advertise with some other tributes. He does know it will be over after the games anyway, right? Besides, his business has been boosted extremely well the last few days. What does he need to complain about?'

Lopez clenched his jaw. 'If he kills the girls...' he mumbeled. A servant behind him swallowed. Lopez turned his head around. 'Did you say something, Elisa?' Elisa shook her head.

'No, sir,' she said quietly. Lopez grinned and turned around. Eliza swallowed and padded out of the room. She was from district five. The thirteen year old girl that was currently running from the fire was the sister of her boyfriend, who she left in the district. She really, really hoped his sister would survive.

Falancia took a sip of her coffee. She looked at Maron, who was sitting in front of her. 'The girls could use a hand right now.' Maron shrugged.

'Look, Falencia, I know you really love those girls, but I am going to save money for my champion. I already gave you money for the food.' Falencia tapped her foot on the ground.

'Hm. Of course, I would not want to keep you away from your precious angel, but I believe Hallie and Tsara have more potential. They are quicker than the boy. They have build a kart in a few days, while he only has a few cheap weapons.'

'Falencia, I swear, he'll get better. Give him some time. Also, this sounds an awful lot like a way to make me help your sweet missy.'

'Believe me, there is not going to be a lot of time. They are explicitly going through the contestants at an extremely high speed. You can listen to me or not, but Tsara is the better investment.' Maron shrugged.

'We'll see, Falencia. We'll see.'

In my head, I rattle of a quick love-you to Lara, dad, Pilot, Tsara, Falencia and everyone I can remember who ever helped me with anything. 'Thank you all, in the name of the goddess, thank you all,' I mutter, while I feel a flame almost touching my skin. I drip the last bit of water over my hands. I hear some far-away screaming from my right. It sounds horrifying, which I don't find weird if you are literally burning to death. I once heard that that is the most painful way to die.

'Hallie?'

'Yeah?' Our voices sound weird. The rags and the smoke do not do our voices any good.

'Thank you for your help. I... I don't know if I would have gotten through to this part of the Hunger Games without you.' I feel like crying, but I can't. The lump that forms in my throat cuts my access to air off even more than it already had been.

'Thanks, Tsara. Thanks for everything.' I bury my head into her neck. The cart is still losing speed. The screaming still gets louder. I know that that will soon be me, which does not lift my spirits at all. Yet, weirdly enough, I don't feel afraid. Maybe I am over that. Maybe I just want the games to be over, once and for all.

The screaming stops. I hear to cannons. The cart is slowly coming to a halt. I curl up against Tsara's back, waiting for the flames to devour us. One flame touches my wrist. It hurts. It hurts a lot. I scream. I look around the room, one last time. Weird. The pain and the smoke must be hurting my Eyesight. It seems like the flames are disappearing. The flames are spreading, but they are not touching my T-shirt yet. I hear Tsara scream. She must be hurt by the flames, too.

Out of nowhere, she pulls the rag away from her mouth and presses it against my wrist. The flames die down, but the pain stays. 'Wha..?'

'The fire is going out, Hallie. I think they staged a race. Those people we just heard, and us. We won.'

We won. The words take some time to land. We're alive. We're still in the games. I start to laugh, but it comes out as crying. Wait, that's because I am crying. I curl up in Hallies' arms. She is still dabbing my arm. 'What now?' I whimper. The burn hurts. 'We don't have water.' Tsara looks around. 'I... maybe the waterworks are still running?' It comes out as a question. Because of course the water works are destroyed by that fire, and of course the game maker only postponed our death.


	11. Chapter 11

She walks over to a tab that is still mostly intact. ´I´ll try it for good measure,´ I hear her say. She takes the bottle out of our bag and opens the tab. A very sad, small water flow comes out of the tab. The bottle fills for about a quarter, before the water stops. Tsara sighs and takes a very small sip before walking back to me. ´It's not much. Here.´ I take the bottle with my good hand and take a few sips. ´Tsara, what can we do?´ She shrugs.

´We need more water. We should focus on that.´ I take a shaky breath.

´Yes.´ I bite my lip. Tsara drenches the rag around my hand in some water. Now there is one very tiny sip left for the both of us. Tsara looks at the electric device. ´It needs about two more hours.´ I bite my lip again.

´Oh, no.´ Tsara tinkers with the device a bit. I shake my head and get a knife out of the backpack. ´I am going to see how much water is in the nearby tabs.´ She nods. I take a deep breath again. I look at her for a few seconds. I feel a tear roll down my cheek. This will never get out of my system. Even if I win, I will forever be reminded of this. I walk away.

At home in district 8, there is a man who everyone calls crazy Michael. He is a previous winner of the Hungergames, the fourtyeighth edition I believe. Apparently, during that year, the lovely game maker had decided to put a few small buildings in the arena. In one of them, the one michael strolled into, there were nests of spiders with toxic poison - basically a eight-legged version of a tracker jacker. These days, Michael lives on the streets of the winners neighbourhood. He refuses to get into his house and has more or less become a ghost. Right now, I think I understand how and way. I don't think that if I ever get out of this, I will be able to look at a piece of IKEA furniture, the same way he probably cannot see the inside of a house without thinking of an army of spiders. Well, I hope we'll get enough money to refurnish the living room.

I try about five tabs. One explodes, two refuse to work, the other two give just enough water to fill half the bottle. My hand hurts and I do not see any other tabs close nearby, so I decide to go back. I do not hear the sound of water migrating, so I assume the water system really is broken. Somewhere, I hear a cannon going off. I shiver.

´With how many are we left?´ I ask Tsara when I see her again. I throw my knife on the cart. She looks up from toying around with the electrical device. ´I am not sure, but I believe there are only seven of us left.´ I raise one of my eyebrows. ´They really burned through us this year.´ Tsara gives me an angry look. ´Oh, sorry, I did not mean it like that.' Tsara shakes her head a little.

´I know. Yet, uh, I think that means we might need to prepare for a final battle.´ I shrug.

´There have been too little mutilants yet for that.´ Tsara holds a finger to her lips.

´Hallie!´

´Oh, I do not care anymore. We might be able to kill the other five, or they'll drop dead, or whatever, but one of us will die anyway.´ I sit down on the cart. I don't know why, but I suddenly throw my arms around Tsara to hug her. ´This can't be a lot of fun to watch,´ I hear her whisper. I chuckle. My body tells me that feels wrong, and I agree. ´I hope so.´


	12. Chapter 12

Two hours later, the cart is ready to drive at full speed again - which we do not, because apparently if we do that we do not have any energy after fifteen minutes. ´I guess they could not make it toó easy for us,´ I whisper to Tsara. She shrugs, while she activates the cart again. We hover along. Formally, our goal is finding water. In actuality, we have no idea what to do. To get my mind off of things, I divide the last bit of dried fruit and a few cookies between us. Feeding ourselves has proved a challenge the last few days.

Lopez angrily slammed the phone down. 'Tell me, how hard can it be for those dumb cows in the districts to produce my products on time!?' An assistant swallowed.

'I don't know, sir. Yet, almost all tributes are dead, so…' the boss of Ikea screamed like an animal and threw a binder at his assistants' head. 'Get out!' The poor girl quickly walked off. Lopez growled and picked up his phone. Korlina! You make sure those games are finished in two days at maximum! Otherwise I'll lose money!

Lopez, I cannot do that. I have burned through the tributes in the last few days, I can't lose anymore. It will hurt my career if the games are done so quickly.

Well, gamemakers never last long, now do they? You know, if the number of orders drop, I just might be able to help you skip a year or two… He let the threat hang in the air. He heard Korlina swallow.

What you want. The game maker hung up. Lopez slammed the phone down. He opened his mouth and started screaming again, to no-one at all.

We ride around for what feels like two hours, but my sense of time is so ruined because of everything that has happened and the lack of daylight that I am in no way sure of that. In that time, we hear two more cannons going off. I hold on the Tsaras shoulder. 'Why are they going through tributes at such a high pace? This is getting ridiculous! Usually the games last about two to six weeks and now we are almost all dead in three days!' She sputters. I shrug.

'I have no idea why they do it, but with only five people left I believe we might need to get ready for an actual confrontation.'

'They probably did not have a lot of those either.'

'Better for the districts, I assume.' The cart slowly starts to lose some speed.

'I think it is about two O'clock. Maybe we can let the cart rest for a few hours before we ride into glorious battle with it.' Tsara shivers.

'That sounds nasty, even if I am happy to see that you got some of that old spirit back.' I chuckle. It sounds fake, but gallows humor is the only thing I am capable of right now. I can mourn my losses when it is all over. Now we need to be prepared.

I try a few more tabs, but no luck: I can get only a few more drops of water. I sigh and walk back to Tsara. 'This is all of our water.' I take a few small sips before giving it to her. She does the same. She closes the bottle and turns her head towards me. 'Hallie, you look like you are burned up.' I give her a weak smile.

'You too. Let's try to sleep.' She does not ask anymore questions, but lays down on the cart and falls asleep. I lay down as well and close my eyes.

Only to lay there for three hours straight. My muscles won't relax. The adrenaline rushes through my body. I want to do something. I want to fight. I want to run. I want to win. After three hours, I feel like I am going crazy from my thoughts. Tsara wakes up and starts to rummage through the backpack. I thinks she is looking for cookies.

'Give me a few, too. After that I want to go. I want to win today.' Tsara hands me a few cookies. We take a few more sips of water. 'Hallie, you have bags under your eyes.' I shrug. I feel much worse than just tired.

'Let's go to the copernica. We have knives.' Tsara wimpers.

'Alright.'

'Tsara, we cannot do anything else. They other tributes will find us anyway. I get the knives out and close the backpack.' Tsara taps the electrical device and slowly the cart starts to move again.

It speeds up quickly. I hold on the Tsaras back again, while we bravely ride into battle - although neither of us feel very brave.


	13. Chapter 13

When we reach the gate between the kitchens and the starting point, we don't immediately ride into battle - we first observe (yes, we have learned something these last few days). There are still two boys from the professional crew hanging out by the copernica. 'The two of us and them are here. That means there is still one more person in the arena,' I whisper. Tsara nods.

'I know.'

'Stay on your guard. She could be anywhere,' I whisper, directly quoting the smart voice in my head. Tsara nods again.

'Yeah. I think…' I scream and push her down. A knife flies over our heads and stays in the wall. Tsara screams as well. I pick up the knife that is laying on the cart. 'There is another one in the backpack!' I yell. I don't look at Tsara. Instead, I run towards the fifth tribute. She has three more knives in her hands. I slow down. I am not good with combat, or very fast for that matter. She has so many muscles that she looks like she could break me in half. I higher the knife. She grins and chooses one of the knives in her hand. She'll strike when you least expect it, the voice tells me. And I can do absolutely nothing with that information.

'DUCK!' Tsara yells. I fall the ground, without really thinking about it. I hear something fly over my head. Then a scream. The sound of knives dropping on the floor. I roll closer to the wall. I can see fifth girl reaching for her chest. Yet another knife sticks out of her chest - right next to her heart. I get up and run towards her. Without really thinking, I stab her in the throat.

There is a lot of blood. I feel how my own blood drains out of my face. Yet, the tribute looks at me. She lowers her gaze towards my hands. I quickly make the sign of the holy goddess. A very weak smile appears on her face, before her head falls back and a cannon goes off.

I drop to the floor again. Another knife flies over my head. My hand accidentally touches the dead tribute. I quickly pull it away. I can see one of the boys coming towards us. He is tall, muscular and has a scar on his face. In his hand, he holds an expensive looking sword. He pushes a button. Something in me knows that this is Tsara's district mate. He walks towards me. I try to get up, while also swiping a knife of the floor. The swords lights up a little. I notice that it must be able to give electric shocks. Oh, yes, Tsara's mentor definitely cares more about him than her.

I hear the familiar sound of a riding cart. The male tribute turns around and jumps back, while Tsara tries to tackle him with out cart. The guy screeches. 'Tsara!' He barks. She puts up her middle finger at him. Part of me wants to laugh about that. The other part knows that he will go after her now.

Tsara can only go so far before she has to turn, which is not easy with the body and the male tribute and me so close nearby. I pick up another knife and stride towards the male tribute.

'Hey!'

'Hallie, don't!'

But I already do. I throw one of the knives at him. He tries to step away, but gets stuck between the knife and the cart. My knife hits him in the side. He screams, before bolting towards me as fast as he can. I try to get away, but I am not fast enough - seconds later, a stabbing pain and an electrical shock go through my chest.

I am not dead. My sight is blurry, I can't move and there is a hole in my chest, but I am not dead. Yet, I also know that that is not going to be for long. I barely see the guys' body dropping, with my second knife in his back and Tsara almost driving over him. She jumps of the cart. Another cannon. The sound pierces through my ears. It hurts.

Tsara grabs my hand. 'Hallie!' I hear her say, from very far. I can't talk back. My muscles are paralised. 'The other one,' I want to say. I feel something wet falling on my face. A tear, I assume. The world gets darker. I can barely see how Tsara makes the sign of the holy goddess. Yet, it gives me peace. I close my eyes. Win for me, Tsara.


	14. Chapter 14

I wipe the tears from my eyes. I hear a cannon. Swiftly, I turn around. The other tribute is still sitting by the base camp. Weird that he did not do anything. The tears return again, but I tell them to leave - I have to win, than I can mourn Hallie. I pick up a knife and walks towards the tent they built. I am shaking all over my body. I hear a drone coming down to pick up the bodies. I still have no idea where they come from, but that doesn't matter right now. The last tribute is not reacting to me - he is just sitting by the tent. I start to feel uncomfortable. I start to expect a trap.

Yet, nothing. I reach the boy. I immediately see what is going on: he is sick. His face is white, but he is sweating. He turns his head towards me. I have the knife in my hand. I am shivering even more violently. He looks at me without expression. 'Do it,' he mutters. For Hallie, I think. I try to do it, but I can't. He is too helpless.

Lara was holding Pilots' hand. Her father was sitting next to her - motionless. A tear rolled down the girls cheek, but she had to watch. She had to see the other girl win. She needed to win.

Lara's brothers were shaken to the core. 'Do it, Tsara,' one of them whispered. The factory was silent. They had to win. They had to win.

Lopez was staring at the screen. His heart was beating hard. He let out one more growl of anger and flipped over the table.

Falencia stood next to Maron. The mentor from district 3 looked like he was ashamed. 'For Hallie,' Falencia whispered.

I can't do it. After a few seconds, the boy rolls his eyes. 'If you are not going to do anything, give me that over there, will ya,' he tells me, while pointing at something that looks like a spice. I obey. I don't know why. I give him the spice. I realise what I did. That might be something that will give him just enough energy to take me down. He swallows it whole. I prepare for the final blow. But it doesn't come. Instead, he closes his eyes. I realise what he did when I hear a cannon. I freeze. I shiver. I stare at my hands. I hear something rumbling above me. I look up. The ceiling is breaking open. A huge hovercraft picks me up. I let it happen.


	15. Epilogue

'Tsara! You did it! Maron says. I give him an angry look.

'No thanks to you.'

'Come on, what happened to my sweet girl?'

'I want to speak to Falencia.' The door flies open. Falencia comes inside.

'That's what I thought. Shoo, Maron.' Maron sticks his chin in the air.

'I am her mentor.'

'Than you should have acted like it.' She pushed him aside and grabs my hand. I look at her. Suddenly, I burst into tears. 'Hallie!' I manage to mutter.

'Yes, Hallie. You avenged her.'

'She… she… she saved my l-l-l-life!'

'She tried to kill you in the beginning.'

'B-but s-she didn!' Falencia holds my hand tighter.

'She is in the kingdom of the holy Goddess now.' I calm down.

'Do you think that excitsts?'

'I hope it does.' Falencia snickers. 'I really, really hope so, Tsara.'

'Thanks for the electrical device and the food,' I mutter. She nods.

'You're welcome, Tsara. Come, now - you have to get ready for your talk with Caesar.' That's the last thing I have to focus on right now, but I get up anyway.

'...and that's why I would like to thank you all.' I close my cards. I open my mouth. I know I should not say anything. I look up and make eye contact with Hallies' little sister. If I died, Hallie would have said something to my family. 'And I really miss Hallie. Without her, I would have died on the first day. I…' I don't know what to say. A tear rolls down my cheek. I look at Falencia, who is standing next to the stage. She nods. I turn around. I look at the little family one more time. The father looks broken. Her sister is clutching her sides. Suddenly, someone knocks on a pole - three times. Everyone on the square makes the sign of the holy goddess. I start to cry again. It might be stupid - I already see a few military men running towards the man who made the sign - but I make the sign back, before I walk off the stage.

'Can't we do anything for them?' Falencia shrugs.

'Not really. It… it is not a good idea to do something. The capitol will find out.' I nod.

I try to get the idea out of my head, I really do. Yet, while I am lying in bed, Hallies' face keeps appearing, followed by her family. I need to do something. I sigh and get up. I pick up my coat and a lamp. Swiftly, I sneak out of the building.

Seven years later, I open the door to my house in the winners' league. Immediately, Lara runs over to me. 'They are going to do the reaping for the next games!' She yells. One of my brothers walks down the stairs. He looks tired. 'Again? They had a reaping last year!' Lara gives him a dirty look.

'That's disrespectful.' I sigh and push them both towards the TV.

'Come, be quiet.' Lara shrugs again, but she hugs me anyway. I turn towards the screen. I am still happy for what I did that night, years ago. Who knew that staging a death and bringing two people to another district was so easy? I look at the presentator on screen. It's that woman from district 12 again. 'Katniss Everdeen!' Is the name she calls out to the people of district 12. I don't know why, but I feel in my gut that something is going to change. It makes me smile. Maybe it will finally be over.


End file.
